Scion Is Dead

Rumors have been swirling since late last night that Toyota is set to shut down Scion. The report first broke on Car Buzzard, but R&T spoke to a Toyota insider this morning who confirmed to us it's definitely happening. Expect an official announcement from Toyota later today.

Considering that Scion just introduced two new models, the quite-good iA and the less-exciting iM, it's a surprising move by Toyota. At the same time, the Scion we have now is a far cry from the quirky, youthful brand that launched in 2003. Yes, the FR-S is a blast to drive, but beyond that, Scion has become "other Toyota" instead of something truly different.

Rebadged Toyotas and a rebadged Mazda can't be expected to carry a brand, but the original xB was actually funky and pretty cool. If Scion had been allowed to carry on, building out its lineup with a few more similarly funky cars, it could have become so much more than the lineup we have today.

Unfortunately, it soon started to feel like Toyota didn't know what it wanted to do with its youth-focused sub-brand. Without a clear direction, both the lineup and the brand languished. It's only officially being killed off now, but it's felt like the brand has been dying for the past several years.

UPDATE: Toyota made an official announcement confirming its intention to kill off the Scion brand and absorb most of its lineup. The Scion iA, iM, FR-S, and the upcoming C-HR will be rebadged as Toyotas, while the tC will cease production in August.

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